Fate: X-Factor
by Cronosonic
Summary: After old man Zelretch absent-mindedly leaves a few odd multicoloured gemstones lying around Fuyuki City, most of the summonings in the Fifth Grail War go completely awry, all except for the Saber class. And what's more bizarre, there seems to be a second Caster running around, stealing prana from the townspeople...
1. Chapter 1

_**Fate/X-Factor**_

_**By Candescence**_

_I haven't written a fic chapter in ages. Geez. I need to update my old stuff. But at any rate, hey, everyone. I know the whole "replace the Servants with fictional characters" thing has been done already, but I want to explore interactions with certain Master/Servant combinations. The first two chapters will be uploaded together, encompassing the events of the prologue of the visual novel. I'm not used to working with Fate characters and the Nasuverse, but we'll see how it goes._

_So, yeah, enjoy._

_**Chapter 1**_

"Oh, dear. I really am getting old..."

Zelretch Schweinorg, the Wizard Marshall, was checking his pockets while sitting in a cafe in Fuyuki City. On his usual dimensional travels, he had come across a few fascinating gemstones that positively radiated with prana. However, he had soon realised that he had absent-mindedly misplaced them. And right before the Fifth Holy Grail War was about to begin, as well. He shrugged his shoulders, having decided that there was no rush, he could easily take his time with trying to find them.

_Besides,_ he considered, with a hearty chuckle, _the effects could prove quite interesting to watch..._

* * *

In an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night, Bazett Fraga McRemitz had been preparing her summoning ritual, and memorising it by heart. Though Kirei Kotomine had offered his assistance in the summoning, Bazett had politely declined, and not even alerted him to the location of the summoning. Despite his assistance so far, she simply didn't trust the priest.

She took a deep breath. She could do this on her own, she knew it. She needed to summon Cú Chulainn by herself. She had been preparing this for so long...

She chanted the incantations she had been memorising, holding her hand outwards towards the summoning circle drawn in blood. Every word had been practiced, and all of her Od funnelled into the ritual before her. "You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of detterence, O keeper of the balance...!"

The flash of light that occurred at the end of the ritual soon faded, and in the middle of the circle, stood a young man.

However, much to Bazett's bewilderment, this was obviously not the man she had intended to summon, by any means. He had long, blonde hair that went down to his shoulders, and blue eyes – his face was somewhat effeminate. He wore striking red armor and a blue cape, along with black boots. In his right hand, was a long red lance, though it resembled a polearm in some ways. "I ask of you, are you my Master?"

Bazett nodded tentatively. "And are you my Servant? Are you Cú Chulainn?"

The young man shook his head. "I apologise, Master. I am not him. My name is Eric Lecarde, vampire hunter, wielder of the Alucard Spear, and Servant of the Lancer class, at your service." He kneel politely in front of his Master.

Bazett was frozen in thought. For some bizzare reason, she had not gotten the servant she desired, or even a Heroic Spirit that she even knew. A lifelong dream, dashed so soon... Though she had to wonder if she could achieve it by winning the Grail.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Lancer. "I know you are disappointed, Master. I'm sorry I could not be the Servant you wanted."

"No, it's alright, Lancer," Bazett resigned herself to this choice, "If you can win me the Grail, then..."

Lancer chuckled, standing up, "I will do all in my power to do so, Master."

"Hmm... You may not be what I wanted... But perhaps we might be able to come to an understanding," Bazett said. "Didn't you say you were an Apostle hunter?"

* * *

Luviagelita Edelfelt, or Luvia for short, had also been preparing her own summoning circle in the bedroom of the mansion she had bought for herself in Fuyuki City. The daughter of a distinguished line of magi and prestigious student of the Clock Tower, Luvia had been, for a long time, the rival of one Rin Tohsaka, even if much of that rivalry was from afar. Her family had suffered defeat in Tohsaka territory in the Third War, and she would avenge that loss.

And thus, it was only inevitable that when Tohsaka was going to participate in the Holy Grail War, Luvia could not resist the opportunity to show her up once and for all. She had spared no expense in coming to Fuyuki City and acquiring the materials and catalyst for the summoning – an old mirror dug up from a temple in Eritrea, with ties to an old Earth goddess of Greece, perfect for summoning Medusa for the Rider class. She was initially worried when someone else had tried to secure it, but it turned out her worries were unfounded in the end.

Luvia had to admit, even if she wouldn't say it out loud, she didn't mind Japan. She could see why Tohsaka preferred to live here rather than study in London for the time being. Politeness was a big thing in Japanese culture, which Luvia liked especially. Though she would say it didn't compare to her home country, Finland, she wouldn't mind living here at all for an extended duration.

She was quite giddy when it was time for the summoning. That being said, she had to calm herself, a ritual like this required the utmost concentration.

She had been practising diligently, and when she began to speak the incantations, she made absolutely no mistakes.

However, the end result of the summoning was far from what she had been expecting. Brash, flashy and muscular in appearance, the man before her, looking in his early thirties, stood tall and firm. His outfit is was combination of a flight suit and body armor. It consisted of blue pants, blue form-fitting armor and a red helmet, as well as a single pauldron on his right shoulder. He carried a sidearm, some kind of pistol, in a holster on his right hip. "I am Rider, ready to serve. Young lady, are you my Master?"

Luvia clammed up, "I-I... Yes! Of course! And who are you?! You're not Medusa!"

"Do you see any snakes on my hair?" the man remarked, as he removed his helmet, revealing dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a scar above his left eye. "I am Captain Falcon, bounty hunter and repeat champion of the F-Zero Grand Prix. I'm sorry I couldn't be the Servant you expected, but I don't think it's your fault. There must've been something interfering with the summoning ritual."

_Well, if he is a Heroic Spirit, then at least his abilities should be enough... _Luvia considered, as she replied, "I am Luviagelita Edelfelt. And I expect and you will do everything in your power to win us the Holy Grail."

"As per my duty, ma'am," Rider replied with a chuckled, putting his helmet back on. "Well, then, let's discuss our strategy for the war!"

Luvia smiled. At least this man knew his priorities.

* * *

At the foot of the Ryuudouji Temple, the hapless magus who had tried summoning Medea had gotten himself completely fried when trying to summon her as Caster, due to unknown and unforeseen reactions caused by a rather different Caster being summoned.

And that is how Souichirou Kuzuki easily came across the young woman in the middle of the circle later that day. She had blonde hair in a ponytail, purple eyes, a sleeveless red dress with floral patterns, red boots, and a purple-pink cloak with the same flowered design as her tights. There was an unearthly quality about her.

"Miss? Are you alright?" Souichirou asked, kneeling in front of her. He had always been regarded as a serious, impersonal man, but he was not heartless by any means. The woman looked up at him, her expression almost blank, before frowning.

"Please... Help me... I cannot stay in this world without a Master..."

Souichirou briefly regarded the remains of the magus that had tried to summon her. Despite his lack of knowledge in magecraft, connecting the dots was a trivial exercise. This young woman must have been summoned as some kind of familiar, but the summoning must have backfired and killed the summoner. He looked back at her, and nodded. "Very well. I will do whatever you ask of me."

The young woman smiled. "Thank you, you are very kind. My name is Caster."

"Souichirou Kuzuki," the man replied politely. He had always felt like he lacked purpose. But this woman... He felt that perhaps he had found purpose at last.

* * *

Sakura Matou and Shinji Matou had been preparing their own ritual, with the intent of Sakura summoning Assassin, and Shinji controlling him via a mystic code. Within the Matou mansion, where no sunlight could reach, Sakura had been tirelessly preparing the summoning circle, with Shinji impatiently telling her to hurry up periodically.

However, the man who appeared before them when the summoning was complete was clearly _not _Hassan-i Sabbah.

Instead, they had gotten a man who wore a set of white and red robes with a hood, and armor, as well as a wide red sash displaying an insignia neither of them recognised. There was a cape draped over his left arm and shoulder. There was a variety of pouches and bags on his cape, presumably for all kinds of equipment. He also had a sword at his side. Under the hood, was the face of a man in his late thirties at least, with brown eyes and stubble across his face. "I have been summoned as a Servant of the class of Assassin. Which of you is my Master?"

Sakura stepped forward, smiling, "M-Me. Are you Hassan-i Sabbah?"

"No, I am not," Assassin replied. "But I am one of many who followed in his legacy, in a sense. My name is Ezio Auditorie da Firenze, former grandmaster of the Assassin Order in Italy."

"Hmph, Whatever, as long as you can win us the Grail," Shinji said. "I won't accept a weak Servant." He held up a strange book, "As long as I have this, once Sakura enchants it as a Book of False Attendant, you will answer to m-"

BANG.

Shinji dropped the book immediately, utterly shocked by Assassin's reaction. The man had some kind of gun hidden in his sleeve, under his wrist, and the bullet went straight through the book, wrecking it. "I will not answer to anyone but my Master, even if you have a Mystic Code such as that. Am I clear?"

"Assassin, that's enough!"

Sakura, much to Ezio's bewilderment, was standing up for her brother, frowning at her Servant. "Nii-san and I made the agreement. I would like if you... Um..."

Assassin nodded slowly. As much as he had a bad feeling about all this, but he decided to respect the wishes of his Master. "Very well. But I hope your brother is capable enough to command me."

"At least you have standards, I'll give you that. Fine. I'll prove to you that I'm a worthy master for you. You watch!" Shinji replied, as he went off to get another book, grumbling to himself. The Servant's action had rattled him, but he reminded himself that Servants were far beyond mere humans, it was only natural. _As soon we make another Book of False Attendant, then this foreigner will follow me for sure._ Sakura followed him, glancing at Assassin, before leaving the room.

Assassin was at a loss for words, and he was about to follow as well, but then a voice stopped him. "Heh... Interesting. Seems an outside influence has changed the summoning. No matter. If you are indeed an Assassin, then you should be able to fill Hassan's shoes quite nicely, I think."

Assassin turned towards the voice, that of an old man... No, not just old. _Ancient. _It was easy to think that this man wasn't even _human_. Assassin had to admit, he didn't realise that the old man was there until he made himself known, it was difficult to tell if he had just entered or if he had been there the entire time. "And who may you be?"

"I am the head of the Matou clan, Zouken, Sakura and Shinji's grandfather," the old man introduced himself. "That outfit of yours... It doesn't seem suited to hiding in the shadows."

"Not all assassins hide in the shadows. Sometimes it is more useful to hide in plain sight, to blend in with the crowd," Assassin replied calmly, looking Zouken in the eyes. "_'Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.'_ That is the philosophy I have been taught as an Assassin."

This actually got a chuckle out of Zouken, who formed a wry smile, "A fascinating philosophy indeed. I look forward to seeing your effectiveness in this war. How many tricks do you keep hidden in those pouches and under your sleeves, Ezio Auditorie?"

"I think I may have lost count," Assassin remarked, as he left the room. However, despite his remark, he felt extremely unsettled around Zouken. Something was definitely _not_ right about the old man. He needed to look into the Matou family. The last thing he needed would be unknown factors interfering with his own performance in this war.

* * *

2 months before the other summoning rituals...

Illyasviel von Einzbern had been left in the wilderness by her family... Or, at least, the closest thing to 'family' she had. Illya's biological mother had died ten years ago, and all known information about her father, Kiritsugu Emiya, suggested that he had died of natural causes five years prior. Not that it mattered. Her 'grandfather' had been adamant that her father had abandoned her in favour of his new adopted son, Shirou. While she didn't entirely believe it, she was still angry at both her father and her 'adoptive brother'. When the time came... She was going to get answers.

The cold, snowy forest was the testing ground for Illya's abilities as a magus. She was left with only a white dress, the required materials for the ritual, and little else. Here, she needed to use the slab of rock from a Greek temple as a catalyst to summon the legendary hero, Heracles, as Berserker. However, she also had access to materials from the Greater Grail, enabling her to summon the Servant early.

She took a deep breath, starting the ritual when she was fully prepared, adding additional lines to the incantation that was reserved for the Berserker class. She was not even remotely prepared for the results.

The figure that stood in the middle of the circle of blood had a humanoid shape, but was clearly not human by any stretch of the imagination. The figure was encased in some kind of advanced armor, mostly yellow and orange, with parts of it being red around the upper torso and helmet, and black around the joints. The shoulders had distinctive, bulky shoulder pads with protrusions emerging. The right lower arm was covered by some kind of arm cannon.

But what was underneath the armor was most distrubing. Behind the green-tinted visor, was a human-like face, but entirely smooth, no distinguishing features, and entirely white eyes. It held no illusion of attempting to fully imitate a human being, a perfect representation of madness. It was not Heracles, but otherwise exactly the class Ilya had intended to summon.

Illya, unsure of what to say in such unexpected circumstances, opened her mouth to speak, but then she heard the howling of wolves. They had been surrounded by an entire pack, and they were moving in on their outnumbered prey.

Berserker turned its head from side to side, as if analysing the situation, moving towards Illya to protect her, knowing that she was the more exposed target. The arm cannon started charging up energy, and it aimed at the closest tree, before releasing it.

The shot caused the tree to come tumbling down with ease, the shot itself not even stopping there, instead smashing through several over obstacles in its path before finally dissipating. This display of power caused the wolves to flee with little hesitation, the ones that were still prepared to fight were quickly scared off by quick warning shots.

Illya was amazed. Even moreso when she realised that Berserker was removing its helmet.

However, the face that she saw was not what she had seen before. She thought that Berserker was not human, but instead, the face she saw was that of a woman's, with long flowing blonde hair, a beauty mark under her lip on the left side, and clear blue eyes. She was beautiful. In some ways, Illya was envious of the woman's age and beauty.

The light chuckle from the woman also surprised Illya. "Surprised, Master?"

"Y-You're not supposed to be able to talk!" Illya replied, confused by the response. The Mad Enhancement should've removed all traces of Berserker's sanity.

"Not when I fully wear my Power Suit, no," Berserker replied, with a kind smile. "When I am not fully armoured, I am not affected by Mad Enhancement... Whether it be its benefits or downsides. My name is Samus Aran, galactic bounty hunter and Servant of the Berserker class at your service... If you are indeed my Master, of course."

"O-Of course I am!" Illya replied, a bit annoyed by this woman. "I was supposed to summon Heracles, not you!"

"Well, I'm not him, that's for sure," Samus replied, kneeling down to Illya's level. "But I am not an inferior substitute, I promise you this. I have done what armies have been incapable of doing, many times."

Illya nodded. "Very well, Beserker... I, Illyasviel von Einzbern, command you to do everything in your power to win the Einzbern family the Holy Grail, and revive the Third Magic."

"As you wish, my Master," Samus bowed. She stayed like that, before noting, "If I may, perhaps we should find shelter? Surely it must be freezing out there with only that dress."

"I-I know that!" Illya pouted, but she couldn't really feel angry at her Servant for pointing out the obvious. She wanted to get out of the snow as quickly as possible as well. To say it was freezing was an understatement, though she was used to the cold.

Samus stood up, offering a hand to her Master, "Perhaps you know the way, Illyasviel?"

"I do... And please, call me Illya," the little girl smiled, taking her Servant's hand. Perhaps she would appreciate the company of this bounty hunter after all...

When the pair returned to the castle, though the feat of summoning Berserker 2 months early was a celebrated feat, the Einzberns were bewildered by the results. Jubstacheit von Einzbern examined the site of the summoning himself, and determined that the results were not affected by anything Illya had done wrong, by any means, but possibly because of an outside influence none of them were aware of...

* * *

The second-last summoning would occur after midnight, in the basement of the Tohsaka mansion. Rin Tohsaka had meticulously prepared the summoning ritual, intended to summon the Saber class by brute force, using her father's treasured pendant that she had inherited.

However the conditions were off – due to the fact that all the clocks in her house were running an hour early for some bizzare reason, which she forgot, this meant she was performing the summoning an hour before her magical potential was at its peak.

Though the summoning _worked, _she didn't get the results she desired. Not that any of the Masters had gotten their desired results anyway, luckily for her. But she had the additional misfortune of having her living room completely wrecked by the summoning. And when she had rushed upstairs to see it...

Standing in the middle of the wreckage, was what appeared to be a young man either in his late teens or twenties, with green eyes. His entire body, sans his face, was covered in blue armor (though his hands were white), his chest plate was segmented, and his helmet had light-coloured sharp ridges, and a distinctive red gemstone. He was frowning, worried about the mess he had presumably made.

When he and Rin made eye-contact, both of them were completely speechless, and with good reason. The young man was the first to speak, "Are you my Master?"

"And you are my Servant?" Rin asked tentatively, not sure of what to think of this man.

The man nodded. "I _am _freshly-summoned, so it was difficult to be sure... Why am I in the middle of a wrecked living room?"

Rin groaned, "I screwed up at the worst of times... Look, let's take this conversation up to the bedroom, okay?"

The young man nodded, as they headed to Rin's bedroom, and Rin sat down on her bed. "Please tell me I got _something right... _You _are _Saber, aren't you?"

The young man frowned, shaking his head. This confirmed Rin's suspicions immediately. "I'm sorry, miss. I'm not Saber. I know Archer isn't that flashy..."

"Well, at least I got one of the knight classes," Rin mused. "What legend are you from? You can't possibly be from the past..."

Archer chuckled, sitting down by her, "Heroic Spirits are displaced from time, Master, you should know this as well as I do. It doesn't matter when our legends are made, we can appear in any time period. My name is X. I am a Reploid."

"... A what, now?" Rin was completely bewildered.

Archer sighed, "Basically, I'm a highly advanced robot, the first to have true free will. My creator was Dr. Thomas Light, the father of robotics-"

"You're a ROBOT?!" Rin gawked. Her head was spinning from all this information. "Ugh, this isn't good, I'm terrible with technology... Or anything more advanced than a VCR..." She once had to try and record something on a Blu-Ray player. It didn't go well. At all. Traditional magi were often disdainful of modern technology, considering it 'beneath them', despite technology sometimes being more convenient for various purposes than magecraft was. The Magus Association in general was old money – VERY old.

Archer sighed. "This is gonna be a long explanation... Look, my memory is a bit hazy in parts, but I can assure you, it's not going to affect my capabilities in battle."

"Well, at long as you know what you're doing," Rin nodded. "We'll talk strategy in the morning. I have an order to give..."

She then handed a perplexed Archer a dustpan and broom. "Clean up the living room. You made the mess, after all."

"Well... Technically, _you _summoned me improperly like that, and I'm not a cleaning robo-" Archer's objections were silenced by Rin's glare, and he promptly grabbed both items and hurried out of the room, "alright, alright... Sheesh, and I thought Alia's glares were scary..."

Rin sat there, and sighed to herself, wondering how she was going to be able to work with this...

* * *

"Ah, there it is," Zelretch remarked, picking up the last gemstone, and storing it safely in his bag. "Just in time for the last summoning... Leaving the Saber class intact would make things more entertaining."

_**To be continued**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

The morning before the summoning of Archer...

Assassin had decided to accompany both Sakura and Shinji to school that day. Well, not exactly. It was more like watching over them while staying out of sight. Rather than his traditional assassin's robes, he decided to mimic Desmond Miles and wear a grey hoodie jumper, a pair of jeans, and some running shoes. He could see why Desmond liked to wear them, they were fairly comfortable. Besides, a more modern attire is far more useful for blending in with a modern society. Even in Fuyuki City, he would easily pass for just another foreigner. It also helped that his abilities allowed him to avoid detection from other Servants.

One of the interesting things that Assassin noted was that Sakura had immediately gone off to someone else's house rather early in the morning before school – to the home of one Shirou Emiya. It seemed rather evident to Assassin that, after listening in, that Sakura liked Shirou, and that Shirou was a nice young man. Taiga Fujimura, on the other hand, who was also there, was apparently Shirou's 'caretaker'... And quite frankly, she was one of the strangest adults that Assassin had ever seen. She was also apparently a teacher at their school, which puzzled Assassin greatly.

It was fairly early in the morning. The clubs started early, and both of the Matou siblings were in the Archery Club. As Assassin watched from a nearby 'perch', so to speak, he noticed Shinji attempting to chat with a girl with black hair, apparently one Rin Tohsaka, whom was also a magus, and the last surviving member of one of the only two magus families in the city. Assassin had made a note to investigate whether she also had a Servant later on. However, Rin blowing Shinji's attempts at flirting and telling him right to his face that she really, _really _didn't like him got a chuckle out of Assassin. Despite being a potential enemy, he liked her already.

As much as he wanted to see Sakura and Shinji practice their craft, Assassin decided to get a better picture of what Rin Tohsaka was like, sneaking around as he tried his best to listen in on any conversations she had as she went into the main building. However, he was quickly distracted when he noticed Shirou, alone, in one of the classrooms, examining one of the heaters...

Much to his surprise, Shirou demonstrated magecraft by using 'structural grasp magecraft' to analyse the heater and easily figure out which parts to fix it. No wonder his friend Issei was waiting out in the hallway. Magi were secretive by nature, after all. However, there was supposed to be only two families of magi in Fuyuki, which made Assassin re-evaluate what he already knew. Even Shirou could be a potential enemy, though it was unlikely.

This would be a long day.

* * *

Luvia held on to her cat seat for dear life. Right now, Rider, currently helmetless, was driving a sports car along the mountain road, with her as a passenger. Normally she'd take a limo, but this was the sort of thing that suited the F-Zero racer much better. And he was going at full speed. Well, as fast as a Servant with A+ riding skill could find manageable with a vehicle like this.

And Luvia was both absolutely terrified and having the absolute time of her life.

Eventually, when Rider stopped at the end of the road, which had a very nice view of the city, Luvia was able to finally recover from the experience. Rider smiled, looking to his Master, "You wanted a demonstration of my riding technique, well, there you have it! Sorry if it was a bit much. I haven't had opportunity to bring the best out of a vehicle like this in ages."

"DOITAGAINDOITAGAIN-" Luvia suddenly blurted in excitement, only to catch herself and sigh, "Oh, I apologize, Rider, I lost my composure in all that excitement..."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Rider laughed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's not the Blue Falcon, but it's a great car! Nice of you to buy it for me."

Luvia laughed, "Oh, believe me, I don't tend to overspend, but sometimes it works to spare no expense."

"Heh," Rider chuckled, placing his hands back on the steering wheel, "Now, you wanna head back home the same way, or take in the view?"

"Oh, I think I wouldn't mind relaxing for a moment, as exhilarating as that was, I don't want to exhaust myself," Luvia remarked.

"Fair enough, then!"

* * *

That evening, as Shirou Emiya was walking home, he spotted someone waiting up the hill on the road ahead. The white-haired girl with red eyes who had been waiting for him smiled, and casually passed him by, and as she did, she spoke, "You'll die soon if you don't summon it soon, Onii-chan."

As soon as a confused Shirou was out of sight, Illya walked over to her Servant, who was waiting near a light post. Samus Aran was not wearing her Power Suit, but rather, she wore a blue shirt, jeans, and running shoes. She was not strictly 'Beserker' now, not without her Power Suit. "Was that quite so necessary, Illya?"

Illya giggled, "I had to meet him face to face."

"You do realise I still don't approve of what you want to do with him, right?" Samus asked her, with a chuckle. She had spent the last two months getting to know her Master, familiarising her with the capabilities of her Power Suit, and planning out what they were going to do with the war. The two had warmed up to each other quickly, and Illya appreciated the older woman's company, almost like a the big sister she never had. Samus appreciated the different familial role, she had already played surrogate mother, and it didn't work out so well for her in the end. However, she insisted on cautioning her about what to actually do with Shirou, after all, she suspected the boy wasn't as worth her ire as she thought.

"He stole Kiritsugu away from me! I'll never forgive him for that!" Illya pouted.

"Now, now, Illya? What did I tell you? There's always two sides to every story," Samus chuckled, walking along the street with her. "Perhaps you should just spend some time with him, find out the true story. I don't like the old man's story, to be honest. Something's up. Your father couldn't have abandoned you for no good reason, if he really did care about you."

Illya nodded silently, mulling over what her Servant said. "But you're still going to fight, right?"

"Oh, hell yes. Just promise me you won't make me rough him up too badly. And by 'too badly', I mean keep him intact. Without missing limbs or organs, by the way."

"Alright, alright, fine," Illya pouted, causing her Servant to chuckle.

* * *

"That is what I have discovered, Master."

That evening, in Sakura's bedroom, Assassin had informed Sakura and Shinji of what he had been up to that day. Alongside his discovery of Shirou Emiya being a magus, he had also eavesdropped on Rin's summoning of Archer.

Shinji scoffed, "So Emiya is a magus? I can't say I don't envy him. Do you think he's an enemy?" Sakura was silent, looking down at the floor, sitting by her bed.

Assassin shook his head. "My Eagle Vision indicated him as a neutral party. If he was aware or interested in becoming a Master, it would have marked him in red or gold."

"Well, your 'Eagle Vision' is certainly useful, I'll say that," Shinji chuckled darkly, and looked over at Sakura, "But I don't want to take chances. Sakura, you should stop going over to Emiya's place."

Sakura said nothing in response. Assassin could only pity her. How could this girl like such a horrible sibling? Shinji muttered something, and left the room, allowing Assassin to moved over towards her. "Master. Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine, thank you, Assassin," Sakura smiled softly, as she looked up at him. "Please, don't take things so hard on nii-san. I know he has a temper, sometimes..."

"You shouldn't let him hurt you like that, Sakura," Assassin replied, taking her hand, revealing the bruise that Shinji had inflicted on her in his anger. "I would only attract your ire if I were to tell you what I really felt about him."

"No, no, I understand... Nii-san is the sort who isn't liked that much by other guys..." Sakura said quietly. "But... Thank you. I know you're only trying to help... But I can handle it on my own."

"If you say so," Assassin nodded, standing up, and walked towards the door, stopping briefly, "Goodnight, Sakura."

"Goodnight, Assassin," Sakura smiled back, as the Servant closed the door behind him.

The Florentine Assassin took a moment to briefly scan the house using his Eagle Vision. As he thought, both Shinji and Zouken were marked in red. Shinji thought himself an 'ally', but Assassin knew he was detrimental to their success. Zouken was blatantly bad news, but for what reason, Assassin was not sure. He needed to find out, somehow. There had to be some kind of skeletons in one of the closets around here. He made a mental note to investigate the whole household when everyone was asleep.

However, what disturbed him most was that Sakura didn't even _register _in his Eagle Vision. A quick check when she wasn't noticing made sure was she definitely _there, _but the problem is that there was absolutely no glow around her. Not only could Assassin not see her through obstacles, but he couldn't even see a glow even with direct line of sight. This was troubling, but much to his irritation, there was no discernible reason why this would be.

This was an absolute mess, and the war hadn't even begun properly... He thought to himself, _If only I didn't have to deal with problems on my own side rather than on the enemy's..._

* * *

That next day, Archer had restored Rin's living room to the state it was before, and even made her tea. Normally Rin would not accept anyone else making her tea, but the tea he made was so good that she decided it didn't matter. She wanted to take him around the city and have him familiarize the with the layout and environment. Archer noted that he could easily do so from a high vantage point, but he figured there was no harm in doing so, even if it meant Rin were to skip school as a result.

Eventually, she brought him to a rather desolate park, composed of burnt trees and grass. It was deserted, and with good reason. "This was the site of the Great Fuyuki Fire 10 years ago. A horrible tragedy caused by the previous Grail War."

Archer frowned, nodding. He was in spirit form right now. "How could someone so heartless cause something like this?"

"Nobody knows the exact circumstances," Rin shrugged, "This was near ground zero when the Holy Grail appeared in full form."

"I've seen such tragedies on greater scale, it's fortunate the fire didn't burn the whole city down," Archer mused. _Some things I can never forget... That I wish I could._

That evening, Rin took Archer to the roof of the tallest building in the city. Archer scanned the landscape, "It would've taken less time if we did this in the first place."

"There's only so much you can see from here, you know," Rin said, with a chuckle, admiring the view as well. "There's so much of the city I can't make out from such a long distance."

"Even without my magnification optics, I can easily see the furtherest distances with exceptional clarity," Archer remarked, continuing to look around. "I can count the tiles on the bridge."

"Eh?! You really are an Archer," Rin blinked. She really wished she'd stop underestimating her Servant like this.

"There is no role more suited for me, despite the fact that I don't use a bow," Archer replied. His right lower arm reformed into some kind of 'arm cannon'. "However, my abilities are best used against Servants, rather than enemy Masters."

Rin blinked, "But fighting an enemy Servant is more difficult than fighting a Master."

"That's true, but my X-Buster enables me to copy the abilities of my enemies," Archer replied, shifting armor colours in demonstration. "The X-Buster is a Noble Phantasm by itself, my Variable Weapons System is more of an ability than a Noble Phantasm. It has its own risks, as you stated, but the reward is greater than simply killing an enemy Master. I could also copy an enemy Servant's weapon or Noble Phantasm by prolonged contact, but considering my class, that is unlikely. I have many copied abilities stored from the time I was alive, but they can't compare to Noble Phantasms."

"You... You can copy an enemy's weapon, even their Noble Phantasm?!" Rin gawked. "Wow... Okay, I concede, it's riskier, but it'll be worth it, right?"

Archer smiled softly, nodding. "You can definitely count on that, Rin. Look, I can explain the full details of my capabilities when we get back to your place."

Rin nodded, looking over the edge one last time. She saw someone looking back up at her. She recognised him. No... There's no way he could see her. She was sure of it. She shook her head, heading back towards Archer.

* * *

Rin and Archer were on their way home, but they quickly ducked into an alleyway when they saw two people on the pathway ahead. One was Sakura, who was looking a bit nervous. The other was a golden-haired foreigner with red eyes, wearing a black jacket, pants and shoes, and a white shirt. Rin frowned, whispering to Archer, "Is that foreigner a Servant?"

"That's difficult for me to say," Archer said frankly. "He has a physical body, meaning he's definitely not a Servant... But he's also showing unusual readings from my sensors."

Then Sakura and the man stopped talking, and the pair went on their separate ways. Rin and Archer decided to leave as well.

Assassin frowned, as he watched the golden-haired man leave. Something was wrong. He had heard the entire conversation, and what he heard troubled him. He had told her to "go die right now", and his behaviour indicated he was familiar with her in some fashion. As well, his Eagle Vision indicated that not only was there no glow from Sakura, but everyone within a certain radius of her had no glow from her, either, as if something about her was interfering with his Eagle Vision – in this case, Rin and Archer. He thought it was the same with the man talking to her, but then when the man left, it was readily apparent that his presence was also interfering with his Eagle Vision.

Both Sakura and this man had something in common. But what?

He decided to confront the man directly, following him, and soon silently drawing his sword, the point right at the back of the man's neck. "Who are you, and what was your business with Sakura?"

The golden-haired man smirked, turning around slowly. "So you're Assassin. I didn't even notice you. That's an impressive ability. But you can't figure that out? Pity. I'm not going to give you all the answers. But I think there might be someone who might. Ask old man Zouken. After all, I bet he's the one who made that girl into a 'fake Grail'."

"If you know so much, then there is no point holding that information back. I have the upper ha-"

"Gate of Bablyon."

Assassin's eyes widened, as he jumped back, immediately diving behind cover as multiple swords narrowly avoided skewering him. There was a wall of weapons behind the golden-haired man. This was no ordinary human, or even a magus... Was he a Servant? Assassin had little time to ponder this, as he was forced to move, his cover obliterated by more projectiles. The golden-haired man found his evasion somewhat amusing, as Assassin made his escape, dodging the weapons that were normally not meant to be used as projectiles. As he escaped into the night, he could hear the chilling laugh of the man with the thousand weapons.

Those were Noble Phantasms. Every single one. That person was a Servant, but how could anyone hope to defeat a Servant with so many Noble Phantasms? Assassin shuddered at the thought, as he headed to check up on his Master...

* * *

When they arrived back at the manor, Archer wrote down a list of his specifications to start off. "These are my default specifications from back when I was first created. I've had some adjustments here and there over the years, but it's still fairly accurate."

_Height: 160 cm (5 ft. 3 in.)  
Weight: 57 kg (125.4 lbs)  
A.I. Age: 14-15 years old_

_Armor part:_

_Interior Skeleton: Reactive Super-flexible Armoured Skeleton which reduces 93 percent of damage._

_Body Skin: Lightweight "Titanium-X" alloy._

_Head part:_

_Broad-range Eye Camera: See more times than a human can see._

_Ultra-sensitive Voice Recognition System: Can hear ultra-sonic waves. Normal humans can't hear it._

_Voice Generation Device: Made by HAYATOM Inc. X's voice is born of this device._

_Body part:_

_Accumulative Energy Generation Device: Stores solar energy. Can generate the necessary energy for X's power._

_Ultra-Compact Fuel Tank: A large quantity of (Micro-Fusion) fuel is stored in the ultra-compact tank, in order for X to be active in places where he cannot receive solar energy, such as underground or underwater, becoming a power source when the solar energy runs out._

_Central Control System: X's second "brain" which controls the exact movements of the whole body._

_Arms part:_

_X-Buster (Mega Buster Mark 17): X's most powerful weapon. Converts the solar energy to fire out a high powered plasma shot._

_Energy Amplification Device: Amplifies the energy in the X-Buster, to release a more powerful charge shot._

_Variable Weapon System: Can use special weapons, by acquiring an opponent's DNA data._

_Legs part:_

_Full Auto Balancer (Gyroscopic Stabilisation System): Can land cleanly in any area, from any kind of state._

_Emergency Acceleration System: Accelerate in a blink of an eye, can dash at enormous speed._

Rin looked over the list as she sat at the table, her jaw open. "Wow... I've never even heard of any of this kind of technology! 'Titanium-X'? Is that even a _thing?_"

"You'd be surprised," Archer chuckled. "However, I can't store solar energy nearly as efficiently anymore as a Servant, so you're still my primary source of prana."

"And isn't a second _brain _a bit excessive?!"

"Not exactly. It's just a secondary system that handles more complex and precise movements that would otherwise require utmost concentration on my part. I can achieve near-perfect aim in a split-second, for example," Archer explained. "It's useful for allowing me to not really think so much about how I'm going to perform my movements in the heat of battle, especially when things are stressful and there'd otherwise be a greater margin for error."

Rin was dumbfounded, but she understood regardless, rubbing her temples. "Geez... We magi don't normally bother with technology, but..."

"I'll try and get you up to speed to the best of my ability," Archer promised, with a nod. "Now... I have a second 'Noble Phantasm'..."

"A second?! I thought Servants only had one!" Rin said, surprised, her eyes widening.

"That's not a strict rule, some Heroic Spirits can have up to three generally. Perseus, the hero who slew Medusa, had a total of five in his arsenal, but I digress," Archer replied, "In life, I had a variety of armor upgrades I could use that Dr. Light had created for me before he died. Unfortunately, right now, it seems I can only use one set at the moment, but that's not so bad. The armor upgrade sets increase my capabilities, but also will be a major drain on your prana. The strongest armor set would be the equivalent of having a Berserker-class Servant draining you at the very least, and even if I could use it, I only want to use it when absolutely necessary. As well, I can't switch sets quickly, I either have to do it outside of combat, or when my opponent doesn't have enough time to attack me while I'm changing."

"Right, I understand," Rin nodded. By comparison, this was fairly easy to follow. "I think I can take it, though."

Archer chuckled, "Well, seeing as how you're an exceptional magus, I'd be disappointed if you couldn't."

Rin blushed lightly at that compliment, but shook it off, "Anyhow, Archer... What kind of hero were you, in your time?"

Archer's smile subsided. He looked down at his tea, "I was a 'Maverick Hunter'. Technically, I'm not a Reploid. I'm the template that was used to create Reploids. Dr. Cain discovered my capsule, woke me up, and, next thing we knew, there was more machines like me. Robots who could truly have choices over their own lives, as Dr. Light envisioned. But then, things started to go wrong. Dr. Cain was a brilliant man, but he was no Dr. Light. The reverse-engineering was, well, imperfect, to say the least. Some Reploids started to go insane, due to all sorts of malfunctions in the electronic brain. The Maverick Hunters were created to keep the peace, to round up the defectives... And terminate them, if need be."

"You don't sound too happy about that last part," Rin frowned.

"No. I'm not," Archer shook his head. "Back then, I was hesitant to take lives. I wished there was just another way. Anyhow... A strange red Maverick was found in a warehouse, and after a brutal fight with Commander Sigma, he suddenly became docile for no apparent reason." Archer chuckled, "Funny how that turned out. That red Maverick became one of my best friends, and closest allies. His name was Zero."

"Zero?" Rin blinked. "X and Zero... Sounds like complete opposites."

"You have no idea," Archer laughed, but then sighed. "But then things got worse. Sigma suddenly went insane, and started a Maverick rebellion, and took a chunk of the Maverick Hunter corps with him. The Maverick Hunters were in disarray, and it was up to me and Zero to stop them. We'd eventually figure out that Zero was the source of the whole mess, he had a virus that passed on to Sigma, who then became the virus itself. It's a long story, I won't bore you with the details, most of it is pretty foggy, anyway. But Sigma just kept coming back. Again, and again, no matter how many times we took him down. A couple of centuries of fighting, and there was no end to it. Eventually, Zero sealed himself in a capsule to contain and destroy the virus inside of him for good. And I ended up having to fight alone."

"How did you stay sane over all that time?" Rin blinked.

"I'm not quite sure how I managed to completely keep it together," Archer replied. "But eventually... I just stopped caring about sympathy. And then the worst came, even after Sigma was finally gone, another madman took his place, and caused a disaster on a scale nobody could've imagined. 60% of humans perished, along with 90% of Reploids. Zero came back in a new body, and we defeated that menace together. I used my own body as a seal to lock up one of the beings responsible. Zero went back to sleep. And when he woke up, I was but a cyber-spirit, only able to guide and assist from the sidelines. He managed to bring about the happy ending we all had thought was impossible, and I could finally rest in peace. But the cost was innumerable. In the end, even if you can bring peace... It's on the bodies of billions of innocent people."

Rin had no idea what to say to this. She had heard a legend of a warrior who had lived through an unprecedented genocide, and had his own ideals shaken to the core. "I... I'm sorry, I-"

"No, it's alright, you needed to know," Archer sighed. "The people called me a hero. I guess they're right, without me and Zero, things would've been worse. But it came at a terrible price. You can't save everyone."

"Maybe not," Rin smiled, with a chuckle, "but if you were admitted into the Throne of Heroes... Then your sacrifices were not in vain after all. You created an example that others could follow and aspire to, no?"

"As long as they can learn from history, I'm content with that," Archer smiled softly. "Anyway, Rin, you need to rest. Your prana needs a recharge. And... Thanks."

"Well, I don't want my Servant being all sulky and all," Rin looked away, blushing lightly, as she got up from her seat, "It's nothing, really. Goodnight, Archer."

_Oh, so she's one of those types, _Archer thought to himself in amusement. "Goodnight, Rin." _I swear, Palette would have a field day._

* * *

"So. I guess I wasn't expecting someone to have the gall to put up a bounded field in my school."

"Yeah. It's a weak field, but I don't like it. There's no reason to put a bounded field in a place like this."

Neither Archer nor Rin were particularly thrilled the next day when they came to school, to find an easily noticeable bounded field around it. No magus in their right mind would start a fight in a place with so many people. It was incredibly suspect. However, further inspection of the field later that evening, when everyone else had left, revealed a disturbing fact – the bounded field wasn't an alarm. Instead, it was meant to knock out anyone without a magic circuit within its bounds.

"It's a complex mark," Archer said, examining the source of the field inscribed on the floor of the school roof. Whoever made this was good. Very good.

"I can drain the seal, but I can't destroy it," Rin frowned. That was going to be problematic. "This seal... It's gotta be for feeding a Servant prana from humans, isn't it?"

"Definitely," Archer nodded in agreement.

"My master is not terribly thrilled about this being here, either."

Rin and Archer immediately got to their feet, hearing the male voice. Assassin stepped out of the shadows, "Rin Tohsaka, I have no intention of fighting you or your Servant at this time. I am disgusted by such tactics, myself. I am above harming innocent people."

"So are we, but don't concern yourselves with this thing. We'll take care of it."

Now there was another pair on the roof. Bazett and Lancer stood at the edge of the roof. Bazett adjusted her gloves, "But I can't complain when it's attracted two Servants and a Master."

"Oh, great, this is going to get ugly," Archer grumbled, "Master, we can't fight here. Not enough space."

"Yeah, bu-WHOA!" Rin was suddenly picked up by Archer, as he dashed straight for the other side of the roof, his leg boosters kicking in, and leaped off the roof to the ground below. Assassin followed suit, using the trees to get back down to ground level. Bazett and Lancer were not far behind. When they reached the courtyard, where there was much more space...

"AHA! Finally! We meet again, Tohsaka!"

That would be the eager laugh of Luvia, who had also arrived, with Rider beside her, "I couldn't find you at your home, so I looked everywhere for you! And here you are!"

"Edelfelt," Rin grumbled, as Archer put her down, "I had a feeling you'd show up sometime. Do you want me to kick your ass again?"

"Oh, please, you couldn't even touch me!" Luvia smirked, "Rider and I will beat you and your pathetic Servant! What the hell are those, armoured tights?"

"They're not tights, you skank!" Rin snapped.

"Rin, I-"

"Quiet, Archer. I'm speaking for you."

"SKANK?!" Luvia snapped back, "Figures, coming from a flat-chested nobody!"

"These are NOT FLAT!" Rin said, nearly about to show her own undergarments, when-

"I think you're _both idiots,_" Bazett said, as she and Lancer approached. Lancer remarked, "They are both rather attractive, though."

Rin and Luvia both blushed, and Archer facepalmed in response. Assassin was content with watching the impending fight, and Rider spoke up, "Hey, hey, ladies, I don't think calling each other names is going to help."

"Certainly not, apologies, Rider, I lost my composure," Luvia spoke up politely, but briefly glared at Rin before looking at Bazett, "Bazett Fraga McRemitz, I presume? I had heard from my sources that the Association would send you."

"Seems you're well-informed, Luviagelita Edelfelt," Bazett smirked. "But make no mistake, I have far more experience with hand-to-hand combat than you do. Let your reject of a Servant do the fighting, otherwise I'll kill you."

"Oh, she did not just say that," Rider smirked, hand on his sidearm, "You're not gonna let that stand, are you, Luvia?"

"Oh, great, a Fraga magus? That's the last thing we need," Rin grit her teeth. The members of the Fraga clan normally didn't leave their seaside home, but the ones that did were often known as deadly enforcers who could use Fragarach, a Noble Phantasm that could deflect any attack and effectively turn it against the user. Not good.

Archer armed his buster, and Lancer took hold of his lance. This was going to be a problem. Rin and Archer were practically sandwiched between Luvia and Rider and Bazett and Lancer. There was more than enough space to move around, but Rin was at risk. Archer quickly devised a tactic, figuring it might be risky, but his options were limited. His armor changed to a yellow scheme, and his buster charged up, before thrusting both arms to the sides, "_Electric Spark!_"

Two walls of electrical energy were unleashed in both directions, forcing both pairs to scramble out of the way, as Archer picked up Rin, and dashed to another position where he could focus more on one direction, as he launched electric spheres from his X-Buster at the enemy Servants. Luvia and Bazett began to engage in hand-to-hand combat, and while Bazett was indeed experienced, Luvia was no slouch herself, utilising a fighting style which was best described as pro wrestling.

Lancer attempted to close in on Archer, who left Rin near the trees to hide, and then opened fire with his regular buster shots. Both of them relied on range to battle, Archer moreso. However, he found that Lancer wasn't entirely limited by range, as he had to shoot down multiple projectiles, such as thrown knives and axes, while his opponent tried to get close. It was currently a stalemate, and Archer considered using another weapon if Lancer got in clo-

Then came something unexpected. Archer and Lancer both barely avoided being run over by a large blue blur that had been speeding at them. The blue object drifted around, and it was easy to make out as some kind of futuristic hover-race-car, and it was being driven by Rider, being used as a makeshift weapon. It was undoubtedly his Noble Phantasm. The vehicle came around for another pass, spinning rapidly, and Lancer's attempt to damage it with his lance had little effect, in fact nearly knocking it straight out of his hand. Archer frowned. This was a problem. Rider's vehicle benefited from the open space as well, and it was fast. There had to be some way to damage it.

Then things froze, when all three Servants realised that someone else besides Assassin was there.

Whoever it was, he sprinted into the school building, forcing both Lancer and Bazett to give chase. It was a student, which puzzled both Rin and Archer, who also rushed after them. Who would stay here at this hour?

"What on earth...?" Luvia also gave chase, forcing Rider to dismiss his vehicle and start running after them as well.

* * *

Shirou Emiya dashed through the halls of the school as fast as his legs would allow him. He didn't know why he didn't just rush out into the street rather than go back inside, but no point crying over spilt milk now. He eventually was forced to stop in a hallway to catch his breath. "Ah... I think I-"

"Lost 'em?"

Shirou's face went white, as he suddenly found himself with a blade run him straight through, right through his heart. He was shoved right to the floor, as the perpetrator laughed maniacally, "Oh, you should've seen the look on your face! Oh, they're coming... Best make myself scarce! See you in hell, kid!"

The attacker then jumped out the window, as Bazett and Lancer arrived. Bazett, shocked and angry, snapped, "Lancer, after him!"

"Yes, Master!" Lancer agreed, and leaped out in pursuit. Bazett was ready to jump out, herself, just as Rin and Archer arrived. Rin grit her teeth, "Oh, hell... Emiya! This isn't good...!"

Bazett paid no point to it, as she left, and both Luvia and Rider turned up as well. Luvia gasped, "Oh, no, this is bad! I was simply going to hypnotise him to forget about all this!" She at least she had standards, wasn't like she _liked _having innocent people killed.

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm doing this... He's still alive, but barely..." Rin took out her father's pendant, and started her spell, "If I can reconstruct his heart..."

"But that'll take an intense amount of prana, it'll drain the pendant completely," Archer advised, "Are you sure?"

"It'll work... But this idiot owes me one..."

* * *

A couple of hours later...

"Ugh, I can't believe he escaped," Bazett grumbled, as she climbed back through the window, "And now we have to deal with a body... Great..."

"Um... Bazett?" Lancer spoke, looking down at the floor. "We have a problem."

"Wha-" Bazett looked down. The floor was clean, and there was no body to be seen. A quick examination via runic magecraft allowed her to find out... "So one of the other two magus must've repaired his heart... And he got up and left?! What were they thinking?!"

"I'm surprised the attack didn't kill him instantly," Lancer remarked.

"Wait... Tohsaka called him 'Emiya'. No... It can't be..." Bazett frowned, "Lancer, we're going on a hunt. He might not be some ordinary bystander, but something much, much worse."

* * *

"Not a bad place, Tohsaka," Luvia remarked. She and Rin had arrived at the Tohsaka household, agreeing not to fight each other for the rest of the night, after Rin had successfully repaired Shirou's heart. Besides, the war hadn't officially started, anyway. They had decided to hypnotize him later, when he had recovered from, you know, having his heart stabbed through.

"It's what little I have left. That stupid priest kept selling off the family possessions," Rin grumbled.

"I agree, Kotomine is a strange man indeed," Luvia nodded in understanding, as they went to the living room. Rider made them some tea. "Don't be mistaken, Tohsaka, we're not friends, now, or anything. I wanted to see my rival's home for myself, that's all. You know that student? Emiya, you called him?"

"Yeah. He's not in my class, but-" then Rin froze. "Oh. Crap. Edelfelt, you said that woman was with the Association?"

"Yes, why would you-" then Luvia froze. "Oh. Oh, dear. If she discovers there's no body..."

"Then she's go after Emiya... Gah, why was I so stupid?! Archer, let's go!" Rin began to run, as did Luvia. Both Rider and Archer sighed simultaneously. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Shirou stumbled into his living room. His chest was still hurting like hell, and he felt absolutely nauseous. His heart felt like it was going to open up any second now. That's to be expected, after effectively dying. He needed to relax. Fuji-nee and Sakura weren't in the house, so-

Then the lights went out, and a bell sounded. Shirou frowned. The bounded field had activated. There was an intruder, at a time like this? Was the bastard who stabbed him coming for another go? Shirou picked up a nearby poster left by Fuji-nee. It wasn't a steel pipe or anything, but it had to do. For once, he was able to use reinforcement successfully, enabling him to use it as a makeshift 'sword' of sorts, as it was now effectively as hard as steel. And a good thing too, as a woman forced herself through the front door, and stepped into the living room. "So you are still alive. Figured. Is your father Kiritsugu Emiya? The Magus Killer?"

_Magus Killer? _Shriou was confused by this statement. "Kiritsugu was my father, yes, but I have not heard that title. You're from the Association?"

Bazett's eyes narrowed. Lancer was quickly by her side in a heartbeat. "So you are a magus?"

"To be perfectly honest, not a good one," Shirou replied honestly. "The only thing I can do is reinforcement."

"Alright, then, show me what you can do." Shirou was surprised by Bazett suddenly swinging punches at him, forcing him to deflect with his makeshift weapon, before striking back at her, but she blocked the strike with her fist. "Not bad reflexes. But if you're the son of the Magus Killer, I don't think I can let you live."

"The hell?! I haven't done a thing!" Shirou objected. He needed to escape. This wasn't a good place to fight. If he could get to the shed, it would be a much better spot to find stuff to use against her... He deflected a few more strikes, before leaping out the window, smashing the glass, and got up as quickly as possible to deflect Lancer's spear, as he came down after him.

Then Bazett landed after him, and swung a roundhouse kick that sent Shirou flying. He crashed right by the shed, and he stumbled inside, trying to find something, anything...

"Give up!" Bazett snapped, coming straight after him, and kicked at Shirou, who responded by opening up the poster, stopping the kick, but also ending its reinforcement, making it useless. Shirou stumbled back, quickly cornered by Lancer and Bazett. He was going to die, again. _Ugh, this isn't fair, damn it! There's got to be a way-_

Then a flash of bright light appeared. Both Bazett and Lancer were surprised, as a figure suddenly attacked them both with an invisible sword, forcing Lancer to deflect, and as the figure pressed her assault, the pair immediately retreated outside of the thread. The girl turned around towards Shirou, looking down at him. Shirou, in that moment, was astounded by this girl's incredible beauty, her regal armor shining in the moonlight.

"I ask of you: Are you my Master?"

_**To Be Continued**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Alright, where to begin? Jeez, a bunch of reviews already. Dunno who Selias means by 'kill the bitch', but the Falcon Punch is inevitable. An alliance between Sakura and Shirou is certainly possible, but Shinji would complicate things, so it's best to wait and see. It won't be long before all bets are off._

_Anyhow, enjoy the next chapter!_

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

Bazett grit her teeth as she stood right outside the shed, Lancer by her side. This was a big problem. That Emiya kid had someone summoned a Servant purely by accident. There was no way he had been preparing to do that, if he could've done it by himself, he would've done it earlier. And he had summoned a Saber-class servant, to boot. After a brief conversation with her Master, the golden-haired girl turned towards Bazett and her Servant, glaring at them before leaping out of the shed, striking at them with her invisible sword.

_An invisible sword. Wonderful, _Bazett snarked to herself, as she leaped back, allowing her Servant to parry the blow. Lancer had the range advantage, and it gave Bazett time to make sure her runes were in working order. When facing down something as skilled and powerful as a Servant, you need the right tools for the job. And Bazett had been preparing, and had one of the best tools a magus could possibly hope to have against a Servant – Fragarach. Her movements were practised and spoke of years of training, as she engaged the Saber-class servant with her fists and feet, her runes allowing her to deflect the invisible sword without a weapon.

Saber's eyes narrowed as she juggled the feat of battling both Lancer and his Master, whose skill she could commend despite her relative weakness as a Master rather than a Servant. This was going to be difficult. Lancer was skilled with the unusual polearm he possessed, and his Master was certainly no slouch, herself. However, she also sensed two other Servants nearby. A strange noise could be heard, coming from the top of a nearby wall, and Saber jumped back immediately upon hearing another quick, sudden sound, which she could tell was the release of some kind of energy.

She was not wrong in her assessment. Both Lancer and Bazett had also jumped back, as a burst of blue energy blasted a chunk out of the ground. Saber glanced at the attack's source. Archer was standing on the wall, his X-Buster charging, and Rider was firing his sidearm at Lancer and Bazett, who immediately moved out of the way to avoid the shots. Shirou was standing by the shed door, gobsmacked by what he was seeing.

Rin and Luvia landed on the grass, having hopped over the wall with help from their Servants, and Rin chuckled, brushing her hair back, "Well, this is a surprise, Emiya-k-"

Her calmless disappeared the moment Saber suddenly rushed at both girls, intending to take out two Masters in one fell swoop, if their Servants did not protect them, causing both Rin and Luvia to freak out and move back. Obviously, as she expected, Archer moved in to intercept, but she was surprised when Archer suddenly drew a strange weapon, which emitted green energy – an energy blade of some kind. He was able to parry Saber's strike, and stop her from advancing, despite his relative inexperience with the blade. Saber frowned, as she pressed her attack...

Then she realized that her Master was exposed. Bazett broke away from Lancer, who held off Rider, and went straight for Shirou.

Or, at least, she would have, had a bullet not suddenly and unexpectedly go straight through her leg, causing her to collapse to the ground. Assassin stood on the top of the house, his hidden gun at the ready, declaring, "My Master wishes for a ceasefire, effective immediately."

This sudden attack caused everyone to freeze. Sakura was standing by the back door, frowning. Bazett gasped, as Lancer rushed over, immediately tending to the bullet wound. Saber moved back over to protect Shirou, as the exasperated teenager spoke out, "Okay, _what the hell is going on?!_"

"He's completely clueless, isn't he," Luvia asked.

"Blatantly so," Rin sighed, rubbing her temples. "Emiya-kun and Sakura are both Masters... Great. This is going to be a long night."

* * *

Everyone was sitting around the table in the living room. Shirou was both bewildered and exasperated by the circumstances. Sitting right next to him, was the young woman who had called him 'Master' and had saved his life, and Sakura, who was apparently a magus. On the other side of the table, was Rin Tohsaka, and the strange young man with blue armor. On the left side of the table, was the blonde girl (who he knew had transferred to his school recently) and the man with the laser-pistol. To the right, was the young woman from the Magus Association and the effeminate young man who had both tried to kill him. And the hooded man who had fired the gunshot was standing by the hallway.

Awkward could not even begin to describe this moment.

"So, let's begin," Rin spoke calmly. She had fixed Shirou's broken window, demonstrating her ability as a magus to him. "I never thought this would happen, but it seems due to Sakura's intervention, we're having a ceasefire."

"I don't know why you're so calm," Bazett grumbled. "That kid is the son of the Magus Killer, who was responsible for killing the most Masters in the previous war, possibly including your father."

"All things considered, Bazett-san, Shirou doesn't seem to be as good as his father," Luvia said. "Especially considering the summoning of Saber was an outright accident."

"My own scanners indicate that Shirou has twenty-seven magic circuits, all of them completely unused," Archer spoke up. He had been adjusting his sensors to detect sources of prana, which was made _much _easier by the fact that he had prana flowing through his body thanks to being a Servant. "Though he has an impressive potential od output for a first-generation, all signs point to be being a rather amateur magus."

"That's about right, I'd say," Shirou replied. He was very surprised to hear that he had that many magic circuits, all of them dormant. His usual practice involved temporarily transforming his nerves into makeshift magic circuits. "But still, could someone please explain to me what is going on, and why I nearly died twice today?"

Sakura smiled to Rin, "Tohsaka-sempai, Assassin told me you saved Sempai's life. You really are a kind person."

"It... It was nothing, really!" Rin spoke, clearly embarrassed. "You'd never forgive me if I let him die, and it wouldn't be nice for you to be sad if he was killed..." Luvia was amused by this comment, and chuckled, causing Rin to glare at her.

"Well, you've summoned a Heroic Spirit as a Familiar," Bazett explained. "Whether you like it or not, you're now involved in the Holy Grail War, a battle between seven magi and their Servants. Each magus summons a 'Servant', the spirit of a heroic figure from across time, to do battle for the Holy Grail."

"Wait, wait, wait, Holy Grail? As in, the cup that held the blood of Christ?" Shirou asked.

"No. This is a different Grail, but it is no less spectacular in its power," Luvia said. "It can grant one wish each to the Master and Servant who defeats all others. Masters can be killed, and this is encouraged, but the requirement is to defeat all other Servants."

"I see..." Shirou looked at Saber, who was sitting there calmly. "So Servants are a special kind of familiar, that's what you're saying?"

"Exactly," Rin smiled. "You catch on quickly, Emiya-kun."

"This is not the first time I have been summoned," Saber said. "The first time was in the previous war. And by your father, Kiritsugu Emiya, who was indeed the Magus Killer. Through underhanded methods, he killed the Masters of Lancer and Caster in the previous war. I would not know about the death of Tohsaka's father, but Tokiomi Tohsaka was definitely in Kiritsugu's sights, and was considered a dangerous adversary."

"So... What happened?" Shirou asked, genuinely curious. "Did you and my father lose the war?"

"No. In fact, we were on the verge of winning," Saber replied. "But the last order he gave me... Was to destroy the Grail."

The room went dead silent. Even Bazett was shocked by this claim. "He _destroyed _the Grail?! I have heard as much, but it was only a rumor, and the Einzberns, who he was representing in the war, claimed he betrayed them, but I assumed it was simply because he didn't revive the Third Magic. But if you both were on the verge of victory, then..."

"I could see it in his eyes, the conviction of someone who believe firmly with all of his heart that he needed to do it," Saber replied. "I was distraught at the time, confused by his order, one that required multiple command seals to perform. But Kiritsugu, despite his methods, would not simply give up the Grail, which he sacrificed so much for, for no good reason. He knew something I didn't. He had been that devoted to that goal, seeing himself and others as tools to achieve his ideals."

Shirou frowned. "My father... He wanted to become a superhero. That's what he told me in his final moments."

This surprised Saber, before Rin interrupted the conversation. "I suggest we take this to the church. Kotomine would be able to explain things there."

* * *

On the way to the Kotomine Church, across town, the group was fairly quiet for the most part. Saber couldn't assume her spirit form, so she had the wear a large yellow raincoat over most of her body, which admittedly looked somewhat ridiculous on her. Luvia had gotten a limousine, so they didn't need to walk.

Right now, Shirou felt awkward. With the other Servants in Spirit Form to save space, he was surrounded by girls. All of them admittedly _very _attractive. Saber was the first to speak up. "Shirou... How did Kiritsugu die?"

"He died peacefully," Shirou spoke honestly. "His body had been getting weaker, to the point where he needed my help to get around. We were sitting out the back, at night. That's when he told me his lifelong dream... And, well..."

"Well? What happened next, Emiya-kun?" A sly smirk appeared on Rin's face.

"Well... I... I told him I'd carry on his dream myself," Shirou spluttered, embarrassed, "He died with a smile, saying 'I'm glad'. It's a bit embarrassing, but, yes, I do want to become a superhero. Someone who can save everyone."

Silence. Luvia smiled, "For such an unskilled magus, that is certainly an admirable goal."

"I didn't think someone like you would encourage a first-generation magus like that, Edelfelt," Rin chuckled. "I've seen the looks you've given him..."

"Bite me, Tohsaka," Luvia glared at her. "I'll destroy you and your Servant when this ceasefire ends."

As the rival magi continued to sling insults, Sakura smiled, "Sempai, you shouldn't be embarrassed about your dream. I think it's really cool, actually."

"Ah... Thank you, Sakura," Shirou blushed lightly. "I know, it's rather lofty, but..."

"Heroes can't save everyone, no matter how hard they try," Archer said, appearing in the car. "I was like you, once. I thought I could save everyone. But no matter how many people you save, many more will die."

"You must have seen horrible things to become so cynical," Shirou replied, frowning.

"When you've lived through the deaths of billions of humans and reploids, fighting alone for years to protect the ones who are left, you tend to get a new perspective on things," Archer said dryly.

"Reploid...? You're a machine?" Saber's eyes widened. "But you're so..."

"Human? That was what I was built to be," Archer replied. "By the way, Shirou, I've been doing more scans. Are you aware that you have a Noble Phantasm inside your body? It's practically a bright spot on my prana sensor."

Both Shirou and Saber's eyes widened dramatically.

* * *

"I hope all of you have reason to be here at this hour," Kirei Kotomine stated, as he emerged from the back of the Church, coming over to the waiting Masters. The Servants were waiting outside.

"We've found the Seventh, but he's clueless," Rin replied. "Shirou Emiya here managed to summon the Saber-class entirely by accident. He also apparently has some kind of Noble Phantasm inside of him."

"Emiya, you say?" Kirei said, looking a bit more interested. A small smile emerged on his face, as he looked over the young man.

Shirou frowned. There was something about this priest he just didn't like. "Yeah. I want to know what exactly this whole War is about."

"For some reason, he's the son of the Magus Killer, but he's not acquainted with the Grail War or its rules," Bazett said. "You made up that rule that said we gotta bring new Masters here, but we'll follow it this once."

Kirei chuckled. "Very well, then. Allow me to explain..."

He had soon gone through a full explanation of the Grail War, and an offer to back out, if needed. Shirou, of course, accepted his role as a Master. He wanted to prevent as much death as he could, especially to protect Sakura. Then came the opportunity to examine what Shirou had inside of him.

"Well. This explains so much." Kirei, examining Shirou's body, had personally verified Archer's claim, by extracting the Noble Phantasm in question, a magnificent sheath of gold and blue. "A Noble Phantasm that has regenerative abilities. Interesting."

"Kiritsugu must've used it to save me back then, during the fire," Shirou said. "But he never told me I had it all this time..."

"It's best that you keep it with you," Rin nodded. "It must've been the catalyst for summoning Saber, too, it's probably connected to her."

"Very well," Kirei handed it back to Shirou, who managed to absorb it back into his body almost instinctively. _So that's how Kiritsugu survived by blows during our last encounter... __And now his adoptive son is a Master. How strangely fitting that an Emiya would be once again an adversary._

"Tch... Whatever. Tomorrow, I won't hold back," Bazett said, walking out of the church. "All of you should be ready, because there won't be ceasefires after tonight."

"What a bitch," Luvia muttered. "Alright, let's just go. It's been a long night. I'll drive you home, but just this once!"

Rin and Sakura both nodded, and the girls turned to leave. As Shirou was about to leave, Kirei chuckled, "Rejoice, Shirou Emiya. Your wish will finally be granted. A superhero needs a villain, and you have your antagonist at last."

Shirou frowned, as he left, shaking his head. But the words of that fake priest lingered in his mind.

"Archer heard everything with his enhanced hearing," Saber said, as she greeted Shirou outside, "That sheath can only be... Nevermind. I cannot say here. Revealing my identity even to you, Shirou, could be problematic, until you learn to protect yourself against things such as hypnosis."

"Smart," Rin chuckled. "Otherwise we'd have a clue about your identity, Saber."

"Oi! Sakura! Why did you not inform me you and Assassin were going out by yourselves?!"

That would be Shinji, who had arrived at the Church by himself, looking a bit incensed. Sakura winced, her eyes widening as she saw her brother. "Ah, nii-san... I'm sorry, Assassin told me that Sempai was in danger, and-"

"The both of you need to remember that I am Assassin's Master, and you need to stop coming to Emiya's house! I keep telling you this, but..." Shinji raised his arm to strike Sakura, but Luvia got in the way, head-butting him. "GAH! Edelfelt?!"

"Good evening, Matou," Luvia smirked, watching the young man stumble back in pain. "What's this about you claiming to be Assassin's Master?"

"As the Matou heir, the role of the Matou clan's participant in this war is rightfully mine," Shinji snarled at her.

"Bullshit. You don't even have any magic circuits, dormant or otherwise," Archer said, having scanned him, before looking at Sakura, "Sakura, on the other hand... Wha... What the hell...?! What the hell are those thing inside of her?!"

Sakura gasped, looking away, while Shinji remarked, "It's grandfather's way of making her compatible with the Matou crest. Crest worms aren't pretty, but they work."

"Worms... Blood worms?!" Rin covered her mouth, "The lowest of familiars... I think I'm gonna be sick...!"

Shirou clenched his fists, "Shinji... You knew about this?"

"Grandfather started the whole process ten years ago," Shinji commented. "But I never knew until I stumbled onto it by accident. It's painful, but I can't go against Grandfather's wishes, you kno-"

Then he was knocked down by a solid punch from an enraged Shirou, "And yet you never thought to support her despite her suffering?! You were even hurting her yourself!"

Shinji grit his teeth, wiping blood from his mouth, as he called out, "I don't care what you think, Emiya! Assass-"

Next thing he knew, he was suddenly on the ground again, as it was Rin's turn to punch him. "SHUT UP! You disgusting piece of trash! I never liked you before, but you've gone too far, Shinji!"

Standing by Assassin, Rider remarked, "You know, he is your 'Master'. Aren't you going to help him?"

"What? Certe che no," Assassin smirked. "Questo è troppo divertente. Quel bastardo si merita tutto quello che ottiene." That roughly translated to "This is too funny. That bastard deserves everything he gets."

"Was the Italian really necessary?"

"No. But I like it. And Shinji wouldn't know what I'm saying."

"Ah. Insulting people in another language has its benefits," Rider chuckled.

Luvia glared at Shinji as he got up again, "A word of advice, Matou. A pathetic non-magus like you has no place in this war. Stop playing the role of Master for your sister, otherwise, the next time I catch you alone, you _will _die. Am I clear?"

Shinji growled, as he walked away, "Whatever. Sakura, come on. We're leaving."

Sakura nodded, and was about to walk away, but Shirou took her hand, "Sakura, you don't have to. You can stay at my place tonight, if you want."

The quiet girl quickly nodded, smiling at the opportunity, "I... Of course, Sempai! I'd like to, very much!"

"No! I forbid it! You're coming home with me, and that's-" Shinji was about to finish his objection, but he suddenly found himself with an invisible blade at his throat, courtesy of Saber, who was glaring at him. Shinji grit his teeth, and left without a word.

Rin then rushed up to Sakura, hugging her, "Sakura, I'm so sorry! I never realized things were so difficult for you! With the worms and Shinji and everything... I should've been looking out for you more... Do the worms hurt? We could get them removed-"

"T-Tohsaka-sempai, they don't hurt that much anymore, they drain my od, but otherwise..." Sakura was a bit embarrassed. "I didn't think you cared..."

"Father thought letting the Matou family adopt you was for your own good, but... Ugh, I don't think he would've done it if he knew that old man would do this to you," Rin sighed. "I thought the hair change and your eyes were because of some kind of magecraft, but worms?! That's beyond disgusting!"

Shirou blinked. "Tohsaka... I didn't know you and Sakura were that close."

"Idiot! She's my sister! She was adopted by the Matou family because only one person can inherit a family's magic crest, and the magic circuits in the Matou bloodline were dying out," Rin snapped at him. "Good grief... Most magi wouldn't care about the means, as long as they got results and don't expose the existence of magecraft. But I guess I'm not so heartless like that..."

"Oh, you're not alone on that," Luvia sighed. "Worms! Honestly, how could such a formerly prestigious family could stoop to such lows? So utterly undignified!"

Assassin placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder, as Shriou sighed, "Well, it can't be helped. Let's just go." The fact that Sakura was, by blood, a Tohsaka certainly did not escape him, but he seriously wanted to just get some shuteye at this point. There was only so much one person could take.

* * *

Not far from Shirou's home, Rider stopped the car. "There's another Servant nearby."

As they got out of the car, they saw who he was referring to. At the top of the street, waiting for them, was two figures. One, was Illya, who looked very eager. The other, was Berserker, in full armor, its emotionless gaze looking down at the group below. The arm cannon was charging energy. Illya smirked, "You're finally here, Onii-chan. Berserker, crush them!"

Archer suddenly moved in front of the group, charging his own weapon, shifting armor colours, as Berserker aimed, and fired a powerful burst of energy, _"Rolling Shield!"_

The spherical barrier Archer formed did its job, absorbing the impact and protecting the others. Saber leaped past him, "Thank you, Archer," she spoke quickly, as she rushed at Berserker, who charged at her as well, another charged attack being fired. Saber was able to deflect the charged shot with her sword, and went swinging at Berserker, who was surprisingly agile despite its bulky armor, which also allowed it to take hits from Archer and Assassin's ranged attacks.

Sakura looked worried, standing by Shirou. Rin and Luvia were casting spells, but Berserker didn't seem budge. Archer grit his teeth, "Oh, that's just perfect. Whatever that thing is, it has a defensive energy field like mine, plenty of damage resistance, and far more energy to spare to protect itself than I have. It's like we're fighting a hyper-advanced Ride Armor!"

"What the hell is a Ride Armor?" Rin asked, annoyed.

"Basically? A walking tank."

"Oh. I see... _Crap._"

Berserker suddenly grabbed Saber with its grapple beam, and began slamming her around with gusto. Suddenly, the Blue Falcon, Rider's signature vehicle, rammed the mad Servant, sending it crashing into a wall. However, as the Blue Falcon came around for another pass, Berserker began to sprint, surrounded by energy, and leaped forward with ridiculous speed, ramming the Blue Falcon, and sending it crashing off the road, and upside down, much to everyone's shock and awe. Rider got out, gasping, "It **rammed me! **He freaking rammed me! That was cool, but seriously, _how?!_"

"Oh, don't be surprised. Berserker is the strongest of Servants!" Illya smirked. "Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who has been known to destroy entire planets!" A slight exaggeration on her part, but it an effective one nonetheless.

_Entire planets?! _Shirou was shocked, his face going pale. Berserker was a monster who could kill any of the Masters with ease, and was taking on four Servants with little difficulty. "Who are you?!"

"Oh, where are my manners? I am Illyasviel von Einzbern," Illya smiled, bowing gracefully.

"Einzbern...?" Rin blinked. "One of the three founding families of the Grail War..."

"Who the heck does this pipsqueak think she is, anyway?!" Luvia grit her teeth, "Ruining my dear Rider's car like that!"

Archer charged his buster, attracting Berserker's attention, also charging its arm cannon, and they fired simultaneously. However, Archer's energy burst was overwhelmed, and Archer narrowed dodged the burst that came right at him, pulverising the ground where he stood.

Saber quickly recovered from the impacts Berserker had delivered, but Berserker was quick to blast her into a wall with a charged shot, and was ready to deal a final blow... Only for Shirou to spontaneously run in front of Saber to protect her, and got blasted right in the torso for his trouble, getting slammed against Saber, who caught him and absorbed the force. It was a wonder Shirou wasn't dead, but otherwise badly, badly burnt.

Illya was just as surprised as everyone else. "Why...?" She then shook her head, and spoke up, "I'm bored, now. Berserker, let's go! Tohsaka, Matou, Edelfelt, if I see any of you again, I'll kill you."

Illya and Berserker quickly left the scene, as everyone rushed over to make sure Shirou wasn't dead already. In fact, his burns were healing already. Archer shook his head. "Jeez. And I thought a good friend of mine was good at cheating death... Three times in one night? Impressive."

* * *

"Illya. I know I happen to leave a lot of destruction in my wake, but could you please turn down the hyperbole?" Once they were heading back to the Einzbern castle, Samus took off her helmet. "I've only destroyed o_ne _planet, and that was Phaaze. Zebes was the result of Mother Brain leaving behind a ridiculous, overcompensating time bomb. I don't know why she thought blowing up the entire planet was a good idea. And dropping the research colony on SR-388 didn't count."

"Oh, come on, it just made them more scared of you," Illya giggled.

Samus sighed, having to concede the point. "Just... Don't over-exaggerate my reputation like that, please."

* * *

That morning, Shirou was exasperated to find three girls waiting for him in the living room. Sakura, he could understand, but Rin and Luvia? And he only then remembered that he had nearly died the night before.

Not a thrilling experience, that was.

"That was an idiotic stunt you pulled, Emiya, but a heroic one," Luvia remarked, taking a sip from a glass of water. "You have guts, I'll give you that."

"Thank you," Shirou said dryly. "What are you doing in my house? Didn't you say you and Tohsaka would be enemies in the morning?"

"Well, yes, but with Illyasviel and Berserker in the picture, we decided that an alliance, as much as it shames me to admit it, would be most practical for our common interests," Luvia sighed. "Besides... I wouldn't mind teaching you how to be a proper magus. It would be shameful to lose to someone who can't utilise a Saber-class Servant's abilities to their fullest."

"And, um, I don't wish to see you get hurt, Sempai..." Sakura said softly.

"I couldn't exactly argue with their logic," Rin sighed. "Four servants couldn't take down Berserker. I wouldn't be surprised if Bazett wanted to change her mind if she found out..."

Shriou nodded. He took note that Assassin and Rider were not around, but someone was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Archer's face made him recognisable, but his attire surprised him – instead of the armour, he wore a plain white shirt and blue shorts, along with the normal apron Shirou normally wore in the kitchen. His short brown hair was also showing. Shirou blinked. "Archer? I'm the cook around here..."

"So I've heard from Sakura," Archer remarked, "But I think you can skip the cooking. Saber's in the dojo, by the way, she's waiting for you. You should go talk to her."

"Right, I suppose I should," Shirou said, heading to the dojo, grumbling about Archer taking his duties...

* * *

After briefly being surprised by Saber in casual clothing (and being gobsmacked by her beauty), Shirou discussed the state of the war with her. Saber noted to him, "It's clear that none of these Servants are the Heroic Spirits that their Masters intended to summon. They're either from ahead in time, or from other timelines."

"So a Servant can be summoned from the future was well as a different timeline, huh? I guess the laws of time and space don't apply to Servants," Shirou remarked, sitting down in front of her.

"The Throne of Heroes exists separately from any time-stream. Their presence here is not surprising," Saber replied, nodding, "but there is another issue... My Noble Phantasm."

"Ah, your invisible sword?" Shirou had already been informed about what a Noble Phantasm is.

"No. Invisible Air is but a mere sheath to hide my true Noble Phantasm," she said, "but I've realized that I've been carrying the wrong sword."

She summoned her invisible blade, and much to Shirou's surprise, a mighty gale burst out as the invisible sheath dissipated, revealing the blade that it covered. Shirou looked over the sword. It was clearly a one-handed blade, but for a petite girl like Saber, it was rather long. On the side of the blade was an engraving of three triangles in formation that Shirou didn't really recognize. The 'winged' guard and grip were blue, with a yellow gemstone on the sides, and featured a ricasso and no fuller. Shirou couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship. It wasn't a sword forged by men, but by gods. A subtle glow came from the edges of the blade, indicating its holy aura.

Saber looked it over, musing, "Though it is not my Noble Phantasm, and I cannot unleash its full potential, it is an excellent substitute for the sword I normally use. The fact that I have this instead of my proper Noble Phantasm must be a side-effect of whatever affected the summons. But it is a holy sword of comparable power, one that can only be wielded by one who is pure of heart and strong of body."

"I suppose you have both qualities, then," Shirou nodded. "But without your true sword, it would be harder for anyone to discern your true identity, I guess."

"As long as I don't need the full power of the Noble Phantasm, it will suffice," Saber said, as wind covered the blade once more.

Shirou then asked, "What do you think about the other Servants, anyway?"

"I dislike Archer's cynicism, but his heart is pure, and I feel he can be trusted," Saber replied. "Rider is difficult to read. His vehicle is strange, but even I can't help but wonder what it would be like to be in the driver's seat. Lancer is a skilled warrior and a chivalric man, and despite his class, Assassin is surprisingly honourable and respectable. Berserker is... Unsettling. His power is incredible, but his enigmatic nature makes me wonder if he is even human at all... Or if he even resembles a human under that armor."

"Yeah, I think that's about right. Let's go have breakfast," Shirou chuckled.

* * *

Shirou and Saber had gone to eat breakfast, cooked by Archer. Shirou had to ultimately concede to Archer's cooking prowess, but he was a bit unhappy with the notion that he was potentially being replaced by a machine. Granted, that machine was entirely sapient, but still.

Also, Rin and Luvia both decided that they should stay over at Shirou's house. This nearly made the young man faint. Sakura and Saber was one thing, but Fuji-Nee was _not _going to approve Rin and Luvia staying in the house. But the girls weren't going to budge on that one, and Shirou had to give in to their demands. Luvia especially seemed rather gleeful to be staying, which got her annoyed looks from Sakura.

The rest of the day was mainly idle conversation and Shirou making sure Saber was alright. When the evening came, Shirou was relieved to be out of the company of so many beautiful women (not that he didn't appreciate it, but he really wasn't used to it), and was able to sneak back to his shed for his evening training.

But his hope for some time to himself was foiled by Archer, who was waiting right outside the shed. "You know, sneaking out at night without your Servant isn't very safe."

"I know that, but I can't stop my evening routine," Shirou said, walking inside. "I can't improve if I don't practice."

"And you can't improve without actually using those magic circuits you already have. Trying to use your body's nerves as makeshift circuits is dangerous and has diminishing returns," Archer frowned, leaning against the doorway.

Shirou looked back at him, "The human body has thousands of nerves. Even if they're not as strong as 'normal' circuits, the sheer quantity-"

"The nervous system is not supposed to be a power source, and is not even remotely suitable for such a role," Archer countered. "The purpose of nerves are to relay information to and from the brain. Converting the wrong parts of your nervous system into magic circuits would prevent those signals from being transmitted, and would be potentially fatal. You're doubtlessly not the first person to try it. Trying to pursue such a ridiculous theory will only be the death of you, Shirou. And I don't think my Master would like that, or the other girls, for that matter."

"Yeah... Sakura would be sad... And Edelfelt and Tohsaka would lose an ally," Shirou conceded.

"That's not quite what I meant, actually," Archer chuckled.

"... You lost me."

This response nearly made Archer laugh. This kid was utterly clueless. Then again, so was he, a long time ago. But that just dragged up old memories that he really did not want to think about. Shaking his head, he noted, "Nevermind. At any rate, you should work on opening up your magic circuits."

"And how am I supposed to do that? I don't know the first thing about-" Shirou was cut off by Archer coming over, and placing his hand on Shirou's spine, causing a harmless electric shock to go through it, causing Shirou to gasp in pain, and heat flooded his body. Whatever Archer did, it had opened up something in his body. "Guh... What did you...?!"

"I had to open up your first couple of circuits forcefully. Nothing excessive, anything more would be unnecessarily harmful," Archer stepped back. "I'm not a magus, so that's the extent of what I can do. Rin and Luvia would likely know much more. What are you capable of?"

"Projection, structural analysis and strengthening," Shirou replied, panting, trying to regulate his body heat calmly. "Projection was the first thing I could do, but my father told me it was useless."

Archer raised an eyebrow. An interesting set of skills, for sure. "Give it a try, regardless. I want to see if you can access your circuit."

Shirou nodded, holding his hand out, and closing his eyes. What could he create? The image of the sword that Saber had came into his mind, but he knew that was too complex for him to project. So he tried to think of another item. And then, the image of the laser-blade that Archer was using to ward off Saber the night before came into his mind. It didn't seem like a Noble Phantasm, it must be an emergency weapon. So, it must not be as complex to project. He decided to give it a shot, going through several steps to form it. "Trace On-!"

Archer's eyes widened, as he saw the Z-Saber appear in Shirou's hand. _How did he do that?!_ The robot wondered, as he watched Shirou attempt to turn it on. The green energy blade immediately burst out... But then it quickly sizzled out, leaving Shirou puzzled as he tried to turn it back on. Archer spoke, "It's very incomplete, but... Somehow, you managed to project my beam saber, which is a complex piece of electronics. How?"

Shirou dismissed the projection, noting, "I didn't have a good look at it, but when I saw you fend off Saber, I could make an outline of the design in my head. I guess it just comes naturally."

Archer looked at Shirou, dumbfounded. _No way... He's just like __**me.**__ He becomes stronger by copying the weapons of others! _This was both an exciting and absolutely terrifying prospect for him. He realised this was likely how Sigma felt when he was talking about "limitless potential". But Shirou's potential was an unknown quantity by a huge stretch. Archer wanted to know more. No, he **needed **to know more. At the very least, if Shirou wanted to become a superhero, he'd be able to teach him to avoid the mistakes that Archer had made in life.

"That's... Enough for tonight, Shirou. Opening your circuits will have side effects, I think, so try not to use your magecraft if you can help it, until the effects subside," Archer sighed, as he left. "Don't linger out here for long."

Shirou watched the Servant disappear as he walked out, and sighed, deciding to heed his warning. Tonight resulted in much better progress than much of the last five years, he was certain, at least.

_**To Be Continued**_


End file.
